


Someone to Trust

by somerandompan



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Lee Minho | Lee Know-centric, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Summer Vacation, Swearing, felix is dating eric the boyz, jeongins rich rich, minho is baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-08 00:43:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somerandompan/pseuds/somerandompan
Summary: It all started with a bad idea- bad idea to Minho at least- when Chan decides that they should pretend to date to soothe the awkwardness over the summer when Chan is invited to his friend’s beach house for the summer where his ex and new boyfriend will also be.It won’t be completely awful once Chan has to fulfill his promise to Minho, right?Right...?
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Past Bang Chan/Han Jisung | Han
Comments: 17
Kudos: 105





	1. Chapter 1

Minho groaned and slammed his textbook close, dropping it to the floor and burying his face into his pillow. The music quietly playing in the dorm room and the sound of kids playing in the fountain on their college campus were the only sounds that could be heard before Minho started to sniffle, tears of frustration pricking at his eyes. 

“What got you this time?” Chan asked, patting the back of his roommates calf. 

Minho whined into the pillow and brought his legs to his chest, turning his body in the process. 

“Memorizing dates and names are really hard,” Minho complained, “I don’t know what the hell is going on, I don’t know what chapters I’m supposed to even be reading, and my professor isn’t in her office during these hours and doesn’t respond to her email for homework!”

Chan frowned at his roommate, “Maybe you just need a break. You’ve been staring at that book for hours!”

Minho nodded and slid off the bed, crawling onto Chan’s lap and resting his head on his shoulder. 

“I didn’t mean like this,” Chan laughed, “But you can stay.”

Minho crawled off of Chan and went back onto his bed, wrapping himself up in his blanket. 

“I hate college,” He grumbled. 

“Well,” Chan started, flipping the page in his textbook, “Only a couple more weeks.”

Minho frowned and buried his face into his blankets. 

“What’s wrong now?” Chan asked, a smile on his face as he pulled the blanket away. 

“You graduate before I do,” Minho said quietly. 

It was Chan’s turn to look upset now, “Yeah,” He said, “I know.”

Minho managed to pull his eyes away from his best friend and just stare at the pattern on his bed sheets. 

They usually did their best to try and not mention Chan graduating. They both knew Minho would be alone once that time comes. 

Chan was his best and only friend. They met Minho’s last year of high school when he was on a campus tour and the two hit it off after Minho accidentally ran into Chan and spilled his coffee all over him. So, they kept in touch until Minho enrolled and they decided to room together for now of all the three years they’d be at the school together. 

“I wanna study again,” Minho whined once more, rolling over in his bed. 

“That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone say that,” Chan scoffed playfully, looking back into his textbook, “Especially you.”

Minho sat up and shrugged before falling back onto the bed once more. 

“Oh!” Chan suddenly exclaimed, “Speaking of summer-“

“We moved on from that topic,” Minho interrupted. 

“Shut up and let me speak,” Chan hit Minho’s knee before continuing, “My friend’s parents are letting him use their vacation house for a couple of weeks and he invited all of our friends, me and a plus one for everyone. I was wondering if you wanted to go?”

Minho blinked at him. Summer in a house with a bunch of people he doesn’t know? No thanks. He would much rather stay with his parents in Gimpo with his cats. 

“No thank you,” Minho politely declined. 

Panic seemed to fill Chan’s eyes as he didn’t expect that response, “Please? It’ll be so much fun! It’s on the beach and there’ll be barbecue!”

“I can’t swim,” Minho said simply. 

“There’s hiking trails!”

“Why do you want me to go so badly?” Minho squinted suspiciously at the older. 

“I just think it’ll be good for you to get out and meet new people,” Chan shrugged, but Minho wasn’t buying it. 

“Channie,” Minho leaned closer to Chan, blanket wrapped around his shoulders, “Why do you want me to go so badly?”

Chan bit his lower lip nervously before sighing in defeat, “My ex and his boyfriend are going to be there and I don’t want anyone to feel awkward. It’s already bad enough just hanging out sometimes.”

“And why would bringing a friend do anything to help that?” Minho asked, grabbing one of the many snacks from the coffee table in the center of the room. 

An idea seemed to enter Chan’s mind and he definitely let it show. Minho was just as apparent with the sudden fear he felt at Chan’s bright eyes. 

“You pretend to-“

“No,” Minho interrupted. 

Let me finish! You pretend to be my-“

“No.”

“Pretend to be my boyfriend.“

“No!”

“Please!” Chan begged, “I  _ promise _ I will make it up to you for this! Anything you want for two weeks!”

“That’s a dangerous game you play, Bang.” Minho smirked before frowning again, “But why me?” 

Chan shrugged, “No reason besides you’re just my best friend and I want you to meet my other friends. I think you’ll like them.” 

Minho bit the inside of his cheek, “ _ Fine _ -but three weeks you do what I want!”

“Of course,” Chan exhaled in relief, “We leave June sixth. I’ll pick you up early that day.”

“How early?” 

“Well from Gimpo to where we’re going, it's about three hours,” Chan calculated in his head, “So, around 7:00.”

Minho whined for the nth time today. 

“Hey, that’s not as bad for you,” Chan reminded Minho, “I have to wake up earlier and drive a lot.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have gotten your drivers license then,” Minho grumbled, “I’m gonna go get lunch or something.”

“It’s five in the evening,” Chan said looking at the time on his phone. 

“Then dinner,” Minho retorted while slipping on one of Chan’s hoodies and the older’s shoes.

  
  
  


Chan tetrised Minho’s belongings into the backseat while said boy just sat on the steps of his house, blanket wrapped around him and barely awake. Chan had come a little earlier than expected, but both of Minho’s parents had been wide awake and were happy to invite Chan in until the older yanked their son out of bed and successfully getting his hand bitten when he tried to interrupt him and his cats sleep. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t even finish packing,” Chan huffed, sitting next to Minho on the steps, “And you bit me.”

Minho just yawned and brought his blanket closer to him, “I’m cold,” He complained. He hadn’t slept very well last night, having a nightmare that kept him up most of the night. 

Chan smiled fondly at the tired boy, “It’s warm in the car. Go say bye to your cats and we can get going.”

Minho whined and rested his head on Chan’s shoulder, “Carry me,” He demanded. 

Chan laughed, “I’m not going to carry you to say bye to your family-“

“Then what’s the point of working out?” Minho huffed, standing up and almost tripping over his blanket. 

The younger said his goodbyes and promised he wouldn’t die on the trip or somehow fall in love with a foreigner and leave the country. It did take a bit of convincing for Minho to leave his cats, in the tired state he was being nervous to leave them for a long time, but apparently one of Chan’s friends was allergic to cats and wouldn’t be able to bring them. Minho already didn’t like him. He eventually got one thing he wanted and Chan carried him to the car. 

  
  


“ _ Please _ put your seatbelt on,” Chan asked for the nth time since they started driving. 

Minho only sank further into the seat, “They hurt my neck.”

“Then put your feet down please!” Chan exclaimed, anxiety clear in his voice. 

Minho frowned, but eventually put his feet onto the floor of the car, Chan immediately reaching across him and putting the seatbelt on fighting Minho off until he heard the familiar  _ click _ . Minho putting his feet back onto the seat in retaliation. 

“Fucking-“ Chan took a deep breath, “Okay! Fine! At least you have the seatbelt on dumbass.”

Minho didn’t say anything and just sniffled, rubbing at his nose. 

“I’m cold,” He complained. 

Chan turned the heat up in the car. 

“I don’t understand how you’re so cold,” Chan said, putting his arm around Minho to adjust the younger’s blanket. 

“I’m always cold.” Minho said quietly. 

They hadn’t even been on the road for that long and Minho already wanted to go home more than anything. He loved being with Chan of course, but he wanted to be with his mom more. 

“We should probably set up a story,” Chan suddenly said after a long moment of silence in the car, “And some boundaries.”

“We met at college since we’re roommates and had mutual feelings and started dating the beginning of the school year. Done,” Minho said quickly. 

He really didn’t want to do this. It felt weird for Chan to have even suggested this, but here he was now. 

Chan exhaled through his nose, “Okay. That works.”

“And what do you mean by boundaries?” Minho asked. 

“What we can and won’t do around everyone,” Chan said, “We gotta act like we’re a couple or else they’ll know we’re lying.”

“Easy!” Minho exclaimed, “I’ll just kiss you and boom what are they gonna do? Vibe check us?” Minho said, throwing a small punch at nothing with a pop of his mouth. 

“I still don’t know what that means,” Chan smiled. 

“Hand holding, cheek and forehead kisses, and any physical contact you can do with me,” Minho listed, “ _ Only _ forehead and cheek.”

“Okay?” Chan sounded slightly confused by how adamant he was about that part, “Why only there? It’s not like you’ve never kissed anyone.”

Minho fidgeted in his seat, a nervous habit he has that gives him away every time. 

“Oh my god,” Chan realized, “You, Lee Minho, have never kissed anyone?”

“No,” Minho said quietly, “I’m still waiting.”

“For what?”

“For someone I can trust, duh?” Minho brought the blanket back to his head, covering his hair that he never brushed when he woke up. 

“That’s fair,” Chan said, “I just can’t believe you’re twenty-one and have never kissed anyone.”

Minho shrugged, “It’s more of a commitment thing for me. I can’t take that back. So, I’m waiting for someone I can trust.”

Chan only nodded his head in response. He was unusually quiet during this car ride and maybe that was due to how much driving he’s been doing, but usually Chan does the most talking. Minho always stumbles over his words, gets too loud when he’s excited, changes topics quickly, and he just feels so embarrassed when he’s told to lower his voice or talk slower, so he sticks with listening over talking and Chan loves to talk no matter how awkward he usually sounds. 

“You can do whatever with me I guess,” Chan said, bringing the topic back to what it originally was, “Latch onto my arm or whatever it is you want.”

“Oh, so you’re the top in this relationship?” Minho joked. 

“Do you want to be?”

“I thought we wanted this to be believable.”

Chan laughed loudly at Minho’s words, nodding his head in agreement, “You’re right, you’re right.”

“We don’t have to do anything in private right?” Minho asked a little quietly. 

“Uhm,” Chan tried to not tear his focus from the road as he stiffled his laughter, “You wanna word that a bit better?”

“Oh,” Minho felt his cheeks start to heat up as he realized what the way he worded that could imply, “ _ Oh.  _ No! I mean do we have to hold hands or anything in private you dick!”

Chan couldn’t help it when he laughed, catching a quick glimpse of Minho’s redding face in embarrassment. 

“No, we don’t have to if you don’t want to,” The older reassured. 

“Okay,” Minho nodded, playing with his toes through his fuzzy socks. 

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Chan said after another moment of silence, “I haven’t said you’re my boyfriend to them.”

Minho shook his head, “No, I said I would do it.”

Chan smiled at his best friend, “Thanks, Min.”

Minho nodded before a wave of anxiety suddenly hit him like a storm, “How many people are going to be there?”

“Including us it’s nine. You’ll be fine and I’m sure you’ll get along with everyone,” Chan tried to reassure. 

“What if they don’t like me because I’m that ‘new addition’-or because they think you’ll play favorites,” Minho was just working himself up at this point, “What if they think I’m weird?”

“They won’t, Min,” Chan put his hand on top of Minho’s knee and squeezed it in reassurance, “They’ll love you.”

“What if they think I’m ’dating’ you for my own gain?” Minho was still going on, ignoring Chan, “I mean look at you! A hot, smart, muscular blond and-and a small-I can’t even think about anything else for me! That’s how out of my league you are!”

“You think I’m hot?” Chan teased. 

“Shut the fuck up everyone knows you’re hot,” Minho scoffed and leaned back in his seat, “It’s always there’s Bang Chan and his friend!”

“You’re hot too, Min. You’re just insecure,” Chan said with a shake of his head, “No therapy sessions.”

“You’re graduated with a psych degree which means you know everything, so therapy session,” Minho countered. 

“I will never understand you, Lee Minho,” Chan said. 

“Join the club.”

  
  
  


Minho almost collapsed as he exited the car once they parked in front of a large house, stretching his body to get the blood flowing again. 

He made Chan stop at a small cafe about thirty minutes into the drive so Minho could change his clothes and fix himself up. Chan having to repack most of his bags when Minho panicked that he couldn’t find any of his makeup wipes which had been in his carry on bag with all his other cosmetics. So, they were a bit late especially since they hit traffic shortly after. 

“Can you help with the bags?” Chan asked from the car. 

Minho just blinked at the older as if he had never met him and showed his hands carrying his blanket from earlier as if he wasn’t able to carry anything else. 

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Chan sighed, “Can you at least tell everyone we’re here?”

“Uhm,” Minho looked towards the large house where people he doesn’t know would be. 

“Min?” Chan called out, concern lacing his voice. 

“Yeah!” Minho finally answered, “I can do that!” He said, skipping up to the front door. 

He could see big windows on the big house on top of the small hill. It was at least three floors and he could see the ocean through the large windows that had a clear view of the inside of the house. Something Minho always hated in fear people would look inside. 

He made his way to the big doors of the house and rang the doorbell after a bit of hesitation. 

He waited a moment, turning back to the car to see Chan bringing out all of their bags from the back seat of his car. He was so fixated on Chan that he hadn’t heard anyone coming to the door, jumping at the sound of the door clicking open. 

“Ah, uhm,” Minho stuttered, “Chan wanted me to tell you guys we arrived,” He said quietly. 

The boy who opened the door didn’t say anything as he poked his head out to see Chan bringing the bags up to the house. 

“Oh!” The boy exclaimed in understanding, “ _ You’re  _ Chan’s friend!”

Minho managed to force himself to smile, “His boyfriend. Yeah.”

“Jeongin!” Chan happily called out as he reached the top of the steps, bags stacked on top of each other behind him. 

“Hi, Chan!” The boy, Jeongin, called back happily. 

“I see you’ve met Minho,” Chan smiled at the two. 

“Not really,” Jeongin shrugged. 

Chan looked between the two and Jeongin stepped aside so that they could enter the house. 

“He’s a little shy, don’t mind him,” Chan told Jeongin, “He’ll warm up eventually,” He added, pulling Minho close to him. 

Jeongin shrugged again, “Everyone is in the living room if you want to see them or you can unpack first.”

“I think we’ll say hi to everyone first,” Chan said, holding Minho even closer. 

Jeongin scrunched his nose at the two and walked in the direction where Minho could hear noise coming from, assuming those were the other people already here. 

The living room was just as big as all the other rooms seemed to be with large glass windows, a fireplace with a large tv above it, and those long couches Minho’s dad liked so much, a fuzzy rug in the middle of the room to compliment it fully. 

“Chan!” One of the boys in the room yelled happily, causing everyone else to cheer along. 

Minho smiled at the enthusiasm, but he felt out of place even with the hand wrapped around his waist. 

“Who’s that?” A boy with a pretty face covered in freckles asked, nodding his head to Minho with a bright smile. 

Minho took a step behind Chan subconsciously, trying to hide himself from everyone as best he could without seeming weird. 

“This is Minho, my boyfriend,” Chan looked behind him to the boy holding onto his hand tightly. Minho could feel tears pricking at his eyes from the attention placed on him, “He’s a little shy and gets overwhelmed, so be gentle with him. He’ll warm up soon.”

“Why’d you bring him if he’s just going to be nervous the entire time?” Someone asked. 

Minho instantly tightened his hold on Chan’s hand. 

“He could use the sun,” Chan said dryly. 

“He’s really pretty,” Someone else said, a few hums of agreement following. 

Minho could feel how hot his face was, but he loosened his grip on Chan’s hand slightly only for the older to side step slightly to the left. 

“Min, this is Woojin, Seungmin, Felix, Hyunjin, Jisung, Changbin, and you met Jeongin already,” Chan said, pointing to each person respectively. 

Minho repeated the names in the quietest voice and waved weakly to the group, feeling his face heat up even more, if that was even possible. 

“He’s so cute,” The freckled boy, Felix, said, “Where did you find him I want one!”

“College,” Chan said, leading Minho to an empty spot on the couch. 

“Felix, you have a boyfriend,” The boy in the corner of the couch, Woojin, said. 

Felix frowned and stared at the ceiling, “I miss him.”

Minho was expecting to be bombarded with questions, but everyone continued their conversation, Chan joining in easily with his hand around Minho’s waist holding him close and safely. 

He didn’t contribute much to any conversation, just a few smiles and laughter where appropriate. Minho was able to get a good grasp on everyone’s personality rather quickly. 

Felix and Jisung were both loud and excitable, but Jisung was louder, Woojin only talked when directed to or if he needed to call someone out, Seungmin was definitely the one who teased the most, Jeongin spoke what was on his mind, and Hyunjin just seemed mean. 

He learned Felix was dating someone who went to Minho’s school, a boy named Eric. He was going to bring him, but his boyfriend wanted to see his family in America for the summer. 

Minho wasn’t sure who Chan’s ex was, but by the harsh glare he was receiving from Hyunjin, he assumed it was either him or the one he had his arm wrapped around, Jisung. 

“We should probably unpack,” Chan said once there was a low in the conversation, “Where are we rooming?”

“Third floor, fourth door to the right,” Jeongin said, not looking up from his phone. 

“Where’s Minho staying?” Chan asked. 

“Oh,” Jeongin looked up from his phone finally, “I thought you two were going to be rooming together.”

“Oh! Yeah, that’s fine!” Chan said, “Is that fine?” He asked Minho. 

“Yeah, of course,” Minho said. 

  
  


It was a big room with a lot of natural light flooding in through the thin curtains, there was a large bed with fluffy pillows and light colored sheets, paintings and photos on the wall, a shelf with a few books on it, bedside tables on either side of the bed, a couch in the corner of the room, and a coffee table on top of a fuzzy rug. 

Minho set his bags on one side of the room and laid down on the right side of the bed, claiming that spot before Chan could. 

“I’m sorry, Min,” Chan apologized, sitting next to Minho, “I didn’t think we’d have to share a room. Like I said I didn’t tell them about us.”

Minho shook his head, “It’s fine, Channie. I swear I don’t have a problem with it.”

Chan was silent for a single beat, “Okay.”

Minho did have a small problem with it. They’d shared a room for three years, but not  _ once _ in those three years did he ever sleep in the same bed as Chan. It’d been offered since Minho had nightmares rather often and would get shaken up from them, but he always declined the offer claiming it was ‘too intimate’ for him no matter how badly he wanted to be held by his best friend. 

“Are you sure?” Chan asked, needing more reassurance from the younger, “I can sleep on the couch if you don’t want to-“

“Channie, it’s fine,” Minho said again, sitting up on the bed, “I don’t have a problem with it.”

Chan nodded, “Okay. Sorry.”

Minho scooted closer to Chan, “It’s okay. You didn’t know.” 

Chan smiled, “You’re amazing, Min.”


	2. Chapter 2

Minho flopped onto the large bed, curling into a fetal position as he tried to warm himself up, the house too air conditioned for his liking. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to sleep on the couch?” Chan asked for probably the hundredth time that night. 

Minho nodded, “It’s fine, Channie,” He said, lazily patting the spot next to him. 

Chan sat down on the other side of the bed, “It’s still kind of early,” He said, “Wanna watch a movie?”

Minho sat up and crawled across the bed, sitting close to Chan and resting his head on his shoulder, nodding silently at the suggestion. 

Chan brought a hand to the dark haired boy’s cheek for only a short moment before he got off the bed to get his laptop from his bag. 

Minho got under the blankets before Chan came back to the bed. The older throwing one of the pillows onto the younger before laying down, gaining a small giggle from him. 

“You’re so cute, Min,” Chan said, putting the pillow underneath his laptop and scrolling through Hulu to find a movie. 

Minho looked at him in confusion. They complimented each other a lot sure, but Chan had never called him cute out of the blue like that before. Minho willed his face not to heat up, trying his best not to overthink the compliment like he does every compliment he received from people. He couldn’t count on both of his hands how many crushes he’s had since starting college because some guy in any of his classes complimented him  _ one time _ and Minho needed to fall in love with him and gush about him to Chan.

“How about a scary movie?” Chan asked, hovering the cursor over the genre.

Minho shook his head quickly, “No thanks. Nothing scary.”

“Wanna just watch shitty Youtube compilations?”

“You know me so well, Bang.”

They found a half hour long compilation of videos from an app and Minho had no idea what was being said, but some of their movements were funny so he laughed. One turned into another, and another turned to music, and that turned into Chan renting a three dollar movie on Youtube. 

It honestly didn’t take long for Minho to somehow end up in Chan’s arms, the older clearly not tired at all despite all the driving he had done. 

It also didn’t take long for Minho to jolt awake, tears in his eyes and shaking slightly, Chan’s hand rubbing small circles on his back. He was watching a movie in English, but at a close listen Minho could tell it was one of the many Spider-Man movies that Chan loved so much. 

“You okay?” Chan whispered. 

Minho nodded, wiggling his arm out from between him and Chan to quickly wipe at his eyes, “I’m good.”

Chan didn’t say anything. He just pulled Minho closer to him and rubbed small circles on his back with his thumb, coaxing Minho back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare. 

Neither was all that sure why Minho got nightmares all the time. Minho just knows he’s had them since he was a child, but he thinks it might be connected with his anxiety or maybe something else they just haven’t thought about enough or considered. 

  
  
  


To say it was hot outside was definitely an understatement. It was  _ burning _ outside that even Felix and Chan admitted it was indeed too hot to be outside. 

“It’s supposed to be the hottest day of the summer,” Hyunjin said, checking his phone, “There’s no way I’m going outside again.”

Minho and Jeongin nodded in agreement. The only one who was enjoying the heat was Felix, who was sitting in the sun room on facetime with his boyfriend. He claimed the sunlight made his eyes look nice so he wanted to sit in there, but really it was one of the cooler rooms in the house with the ventilation. 

“Channie, go get us ice cream,” Minho told the Australian, “Please,” He added. 

Chan smiled at the boy lying on the hardwood floor, everyone else looking at Chan expectantly. 

“Alright,” Chan said, “Anyone wanna come?”

“I’ll go,” Woojin volunteered, standing up from the couch. 

“What flavors does everyone want?” Chan asked the group, “Minho you want mint chocolate?” He asked the younger. 

Minho nodded his head again. 

“Felix is going to want banana,” Seungmin said, “I want vanilla.”

“Strawberry for me and Jinnie!” Jisung requested happily. 

“Cookie dough,” Changbin said from where he was sitting upside down on the couch, “Or coffee. ”

“Jeongin?” Chan smiled at the youngest who was staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. 

“Chocolate,” Was the only thing he said. 

Chan looked at Woojin in amusement, the oldest just shrugged, just as amused at the group. 

Minho wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do by himself for who knows how long. He would have a good estimate if he hadn’t fallen asleep on the car ride over, but judging from all the looking out the window he’s already done it had to be over thirty minutes. 

“Can you please turn the AC up?” Changbin complained as soon as the front door closed. 

Jeongin just whined, refusing to move anywhere. 

“So,” Seungmin started, “How long have you and Chan been together?”

Minho thought for a moment, trying to piece together a timeline, “Around nine months.”

Jisung snickered, Minho looking over at him in confusion, “Like a pregnancy?”

Minho bit his lip to keep from laughing, a smile on his face. 

Jeongin sighed, “Felix has been with his boyfriend for over a year and they both still act like they just got together,” He complained, “I hate it.”

Hyunjin nodded in agreement, “That’s cool. Can you turn the AC up?”

“I don’t know how!” Jeongin admitted. 

“Oh my god,” Changbin sighed, falling onto the floor before standing up, a bit wobbly from the blood-rush in his head, “I’ll do it.”

  
  
  


Minho had been right when he guessed Chan and Woojin would take over thirty minutes. It took a little over an hour for them to get back to the house, ice cream and soda in hand. 

Minho immediately jumped on Chan seeing that he had the mint ice cream. The blond refusing to give him the ice cream he desperately needed until they were in the kitchen, so the younger made himself comfortable on the older’s back as he walked around the house. 

“It’s not that hot in here, Min,” Chan told him, putting the ice creams he took from Woojin into the freezer and the sodas into the fridge to cool. 

“It is now that you’re here,” Minho said, watching as Chan’s ears slowly started to turn red. 

That was something Minho noticed a long time ago. Whenever Chan was embarrassed his ears would turn red and Minho had yet to ever tell him that. The older always thought his face turned red, so he would hide in his hands when embarrassed to cover himself. 

Chan had learned a long time ago that Minho’s entire face turns red when even slightly embarrassed and he uses it to his advantage often. Well, he did until Minho started to wear makeup. 

“Here,” Chan said, holding a pint of ice cream out towards Minho who grabbed it eagerly. 

Everyone else ended up quickly joining in the kitchen for their own dessert, Woojin passing them out to the respective person. 

Chan set Minho down, a small smile on the younger’s face. Chan’s eyes looked over Minho’s face, seemingly debating over something before he shook his head and walked over to the dining room where everyone else had gathered. 

Minho was left alone and confused in the kitchen. He  _ really _ didn’t understand how this was supposed to play out. 

  
  
  


“Eric said he might be coming back early!” Felix exclaimed before he even opened his ice cream. 

“Fuck yeah!” Jeongin said, stabbing a spoon into his completely frozen over ice cream, “I’m putting this outside for a bit,” He said, carrying the pint by the spoon that was now stuck. 

Minho giggled at the situation for the youngest, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He leaned closer to Chan whose arm was around Minho’s shoulder. 

“It’s not funny!” Jeongin called back, causing Minho and a few of the others to laugh. 

“I can’t believe Minho likes mint chocolate,” Hyunjin said, staring at the pint in the older’s hands. 

Minho stared at his ice cream before looking back up to Hyunjin, “It’s good!” He claimed, “I’m just better than you.”

Hyunjin’s eyes softened at Minho for the first time since his arrival, smiling slightly as he let the topic drop and admit defeat.

Chan scrunched his nose in disgust, “I think you’re the only person on the planet who likes that stuff, Min.”

Minho looked at Chan in betrayal, setting his dessert onto the table and carefully removing Chan’s arm from around him and scooting his chair closer to Woojin. 

Chan gaped at him, Seungmin snickering from across the table. 

“That’s what you get,” Seungmin told Chan. 

“No!” Chan protested, “You’re the only one who likes it, so that means it’s produced only for you!”

“That’s such a waste for the environment,” Minho faked tears, Cuddling up to Woojin who patted his back comfortingly. 

“Look what you’ve done to him!” Changbin pointed accusedly to Chan. 

“He made the baby cry,” Woojin said, protecting the smaller in his arms. 

There was a small gasp from behind the oldest three who turned to see Jeongin standing in the doorframe, a hand over his heart. 

“I thought  _ I  _ was baby?” He said. 

“We can both be baby,” Minho tried to compromise. 

“No, fuck you,” Jeongin said, taking his seat at the table, “You’re old as fuck.”

“Chan’s old as fuck,” Minho said, releasing himself from Woojin’s grasp. 

“Fuck Chan lives I guess,” The Australian said miserably. 

  
  
  


“Wanna watch a movie with us?” Jisung asked the two on the balcony. 

Minho had actually been hoping to have some quiet time before he’d end up talking to Chan for a good hour before bed, so he came outside once the sun had gone down and it started to cool off outside. Chan had followed him outside for some company which Minho appreciated. 

“Sure!” Chan said, looking at Minho expectantly. 

“Yeah okay,” Minho agreed. Chan smiled at him and took his hand, following Jisung and Hyunjin back inside the house. 

Jeongin had finally been shown how the thermostat works, but Changbin had taken it upon himself to be in charge of changing the temperature in the house, not trusting Jeongin to do it. 

Despite the comfortable warmth in the house, Minho still grabbed one of the blankets on the couch and wrapped it tightly around him. The other three were arguing over what movie they should watch, Jisung trying to steal the remote from Chan who was just trying to scroll through to find a movie. 

“Why are you and Woojin the only ones here who doesn’t argue over everything?” Hyunjin asked, shoving Jisung off of his and Minho’s lap. 

Minho shrugged, “It’s amusing.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow at the shorter, “Alright then.”

Minho snickered before collapsing into Chan’s side, the older immediately putting his arm around the smaller. 

“Are you going to stay down there or come back up?” Chan asked Jisung who hadn’t moved since he was pushed. 

“No,” Jisung muttered, “I’ve been betrayed.”

“A lot of betrayal going on today,” Chan said. Minho chuckled quietly. 

“Jesus christ-give me that!” Hyunjin said quickly, taking the remote from Chan. Jisung immediately hopping onto the couch once his boyfriend got the remote. 

Hyunjin quickly scrolled through the Netflix categories, settling on the first thing that he landed on. 

“No!” Jisung exclaimed when he saw the title on the loading screen, “This movie freaks me out!”

“It’s a cartoon,” Minho said, all three of them looking at Jisung in confusion.

“Coraline freaks me out! It’s so creepy,” He protested. 

“Too bad,” Hyunjin said, “Just look away.”

“I can still hear it though!”

“Then suffer.”

  
  
  


It took only twenty minutes into the movie for Minho to start feeling tired. He had gotten bored of the movie and was playing with Chan’s hand, comparing the size difference, interlacing their fingers together, pressing down on Chan’s fingertips which he put force into not moving which give Minho a small challenge in moving the older’s fingers. 

It wasn’t until the third time that Minho locked their fingers together that Chan closed his hand around Minho’s. He looked up at Chan, still focused on the movie as he brought their hands to his face and kissed one of Minho’s knuckles. 

Minho’s face immediately started to heat up. He knew it was all just part of their act, but it still made him embarrassed. He  _ had  _ said Chan was allowed to do that and he  _ knew _ it was going to come at some point. It had just been earlier than he expected it to be. 

He removed his hand from Chan’s a few minutes later. Standing up from the couch, announcing he was going to bed, and quickly left the room. 

His face was still  _ burning _ as he quickly made his way up the steps to the shared bedroom. He closed the door to the room as quickly and as quietly as he could, sending a ‘send me my cats’ text to his mom. 

It wasn’t until he sat down on the bed that he realized leaving the room in a panic after something as simple to a kiss on the hand was not going to send a good message to Chan. And he would be correct as there was a gentle knock on the door before it opened, the hall light flooding the room. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, I swear!” Minho said once the door closed and Chan turned on the light. 

”Still,” Chan said, sitting next to Minho on the bed, ”I should’ve asked if that was okay first.”

Minho shook his head furiously, “No! I promise it’s fine! I’m just not used to that type of stuff! I just-“ Minho groaned, flopping backwards onto the bed with his hands covering his face. 

Chan moved his hands away from his face, a small smile of understanding on his face, “Hey, I get it. How about next time I warn you, okay?”

“And how would you do that, my dear  _ boyfriend? _ ” Minho asked with a scoff. 

“Well,  _ boyfriend _ ,” Chan said, “I can just squeeze your hand as a warning until you get used to it.”

“And what if you accidentally do that?” Minho asked, propping himself up slightly, using his elbows to support himself. 

Chan thought for a moment, “I’ll squeeze your hand three times,” He finally decided, “That way there’ll be no confusion.”

Minho nodded slowly, “Okay…” 

“Let’s go to bed now,” Chan suggested, patting the younger’s tummy. 

Minho whined, covering his stomach from Chan and turning on his side. 

Chan laughed at him, “You’re so cute.”

“I know,” Minho said, a small smile on his face, “You’ve been telling me that often.”

Chan smiled at him before standing from the bed and grabbing his pajamas from the dresser he put all their clothes in, grabbing Minho’s clothes as well. 

“Goodnight, Channie,” Minho said as Chan turned the light to the room off once the dark haired boy was settled in bed. 

“Night, Min.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this straight up took so long to write and I did it all when I shouldve been paying attention in class


	3. Chapter 3

Minho woke up in the middle of the night again. He hadn’t woken up from any nightmares, but he was just...awake now. 

He turned in the bed, facing the wall with the window and being met with Chan’s back a dim blue glue on that side of the bed that meant Chan was still awake. 

The curtains were flowing gently from the light breeze coming in through the open window, moonlight slipping into the room. It was peaceful and quiet, the only sound was the waves from the ocean.

Minho sat up in the bed. Feeling wide awake, he tossed the blanket off of him and quickly and quietly left the room before Chan could say anything. 

He quietly made his way to the first floor, using his phone as a flashlight to make his way around the house. 

“This is really hard,” Minho thought aloud. It was hard. It was really hard to pretend to be Chan’s boyfriend and not get embarrassed by anything he does that would be considered more than platonic. It was hard to act the correct way-if there even _ was _ a correct way! Chan seemed to know everything and Minho wasn’t sure if he should be his normal self or stick to Chan’s arm like a trophy wife. Which is what he had _ literally _ been doing this entire time and he needed a break to himself. 

It was a stupid idea and he knew it when slipping on the oversized hoodie Chan left at his seat at the table the other day. He exited through the back door since it wasn’t as loud as the front door and there were some lights that lead down the hill. 

Shoeless, he felt the cooled sand on his feet as he walked down to the beach, no light there to illuminate anything besides the dim lighting of the moon and stars. 

Kicking the sand under his feet he started to feel frustrated. All he knew right now is that if he could drive he would take Chan’s car and leave him here, going back home to Gimpo where he should be, enjoying the summer break with his cats. But no, he was stuck in a stupid vacation home with his stupid and confused feelings. He’s been saying it since day one and he’ll say it again-he wanted to go _ home. _

He kicked the sand under him again, more aggressive this time as tears of frustration pricked at his eyes. 

He heard the door he came from open and close, hard to miss when it squeaked as it was being opened. Minho could take a wild guess as to who that was. He kept walking, phone flashlight guiding him to make sure he didn’t end up stepping on anything and hurting himself. 

“Min!” Chan called from somewhere behind the younger, but he kept on walking forward, ignoring the older. 

He tapped his phone screen to check the time. 3:22. Here he was walking on the beach without any shoes on while some guy he may or may not be developing feelings for as they _ pretend to date _ is chasing after him. How romantic. 

Minho sped up his pace when his name was called a second time. He turned to the right, walking onto a pier that was wet almost all over from the high tide. He sat down at the edge of the pier, it was low enough that the water was up near his calves. 

“Min,” Chan said again, much closer this time and slightly out of breath. He sat down next to the dark haired boy, putting a hand on his shoulder before quickly removing it when he felt Minho tense up. 

“What are you doing out here?” Minho asked the older. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Chan said. 

Minho sighed, “This is so hard,” He admitted, staring out to the dark water. 

“We can stop if you want.”

Minho looked at Chan with wide eyes, “Are you _ insane? _ We can’t do that!”

“If you don’t want to then we can quit,” Chan said, “I don’t want you to stress over this, Min. You don’t deserve that.”

Minho shook his head, “No, if they find out this entire thing is a lie, how would they feel? How would _ you _ feel if I told you I was pretending to date someone?”

“I-“ Chan cut himself off, “I wouldn’t be very happy.”

“Exactly,” Minho said, “We do this and then afterwards we can say we broke up. Simple.”

“Then why are you-“

“Because I don’t know what to do, Channie!” Minho nearly yelled, hands covering his face, “I’ve never done anything like this before and I don’t know how to act or what to do!”

“You just act how you always do, Min,” Chan told him, “I’ve told you this. There’s nothing special to it and if you aren’t comfortable with something we don’t have to do anything.”

“I promised I would do this though,” Minho said, “I’m not breaking that promise.”

Chan was silent for a moment, “Okay.”

“It could be worse,” Minho said, “We could be like Felix.”

Chan chuckled, “You mean constantly on your phone? You already are.”

“Hey!” Minho shoved Chan’s shoulder playfully, “I’m not on my phone _ all _ the time.”

Chan snorted, smiling at Minho for a moment before looking away and staring out towards the ocean. 

“Let’s go back inside,” Chan said, “You need sleep.”

“So do you,” The younger reminded him. 

Chan shrugged, “I’ll be fine.”

The blond stood up carefully, the wood slippery and wet from the waves. 

Minho frowned and brought his legs out from being in the water, the cold water hitting the warmer air on his legs. He was careful when standing up, but when he was supporting himself to stand up his hand slipped on the wood, losing his balance and falling into the water.

A small scream ripped through his throat, water filling his lungs. He started to panic, scared of the large waves and the darkness of the cold water as he flailed his body violently. He wasn’t even that far from the pier. He was just scared. 

He didn’t have to flail around for long before he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull his upper half out of the water. 

“It’s okay,” Chan soothed, treading through the water back to the shore, “You’re okay. I got you.”

Minho was shaking in Chan’s arms, both from being scared and from being cold. He coughed the water out of his lungs, resting his head on Chan’s shoulder as he was carried back up to the house. 

Chan didn’t put Minho down until they were back in their room, sitting him down on the couch and grabbing new clothes for him, and helping Minho into the shower. 

“Thank you,” Minho quietly said. 

Chan kissed the top of Minho’s head, the younger too tired to even register it. 

“You don’t need to thank me,” He said before tossing the new change of clothes onto the sink and leaving the bathroom for Minho to shower. 

Immediately after getting out of the shower Minho collapsed on the bed. He was so tired. Chan was sitting on his side of the bed reading an article about something. He was in a fresh change of clothes, his hair pushed back the way he always did after he showered, which means Chan had gone to a different bathroom to shower. Minho cuddled into the older’s side, wrapping his arms around him and closing his eyes to try and sleep. 

He really did trust Chan and he trusted Minho. Minho trusted Chan enough to see him most vulnerable and to take care of his cats for a week last summer when he was out of town. 

Minho felt his heart skip a beat when Chan draped his arm over the younger. His heart leaped before it dropped as he realized for the first time just how in love he was with his best friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont mind me,,,im just,,writing cliches,,(=

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know what I’m doing! ♪( ´▽｀)
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